At the Swegle Boys and Girls Club, children pointed to the Salem Public Library’s book display and talked over each other so loudly it was hard to hear what they were saying. Some had raised their hands to be called on, while others climbed around and were silenced by staff.

Jessica Marie, a senior librarian at the Salem Public Library, was undeterred. She looked intently at a raised hand and said, “Yes, my love?”

When she started speaking, most of the children calmed down.

Marie led a pop-up library event that was part of the library’s efforts to reach areas far from downtown and West Salem libraries. A colorful information bus brings books and activities, providing access to communities that might otherwise have trouble using library services.

At the Boys and Girls Club on Friday, August 16, Marie gave a short presentation about library services and showed a virtual tour of downtown Salem. She explained that if the children use their library cards responsibly, the library would not cost a single penny.

“Not even a cent?” shouted a child sitting at the front of the group.

“Raise your hand if you’ve been there before,” Marie said, referring to the library in downtown Salem. Most of the hands shot up. Then Marie asked the children to raise their hands if they had never been to the library. About six hands went up.

Since April 2024, the library has hosted monthly pop-ups in parks, residential communities or at the Boys and Girls Club, which works primarily with children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Before visiting the Swegle branch on Friday, the pop-up library visited the Epping Homestead branch of the Boys and Girls Club at 3805 Lancaster Drive NE

Pop-up libraries allow people to access books regardless of whether they have a library card or not.

Pop-up library staff can help patrons apply for a library card or lend them books through the No Card, No Problem program, which sets books aside for take-home use.

The pop-up also features crafts and activities for people to enjoy. At the Swegle pop-up last week, Marie and library summer intern Jaslyn Contreras brought Styrofoam airplanes and a painting project for kids to play with.

“It’s just a warm, cozy feeling,” says Marie, describing the atmosphere of the pop-up libraries.

In April of this year, the city’s budget committee voted to avoid staff cuts and to fund existing library jobs for another year using hotel tax funds.

Even though library jobs are secured for the year, there aren’t enough staff to keep the pop-ups happening more than once a month, Marie said. Despite the program’s success, Marie said it will likely be cut next fiscal year as the city grapples with its multimillion-dollar budget deficit.

The library was a central point of discussion in the search for new revenue opportunities, which will also continue at the city council meeting on Monday evening.

Any worries about the future of the pop-up were by no means the focus of the event, because at the end Marie told the children that they could take a book home from the outreach library.

Although some children loudly declared that they did not like reading, everyone hurried to choose a book.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: (email protected).

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Madeleine Moore is a reporter at the Salem Reporter as part of the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden Internship Program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in June 2024.